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The article discusses the project Everybody Counts (EBC)? Understanding Health and Physical Education in the primary school through a funded collaboration between primary school teachers and university lecturers in New Zealand. Topics discussed include exploration of teaching and learning of health and physical education (HPE) in primary schools, innovative approaches in HPE and its effect on student learning, and efforts to replace the name physical education in school curriculum.

The article focuses on a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI)-funded project titled "Everybody Counts: Understanding Health and Physical Education in Primary Schools" started in two primary schools at Tauranga and Hamilton in New Zealand in 2013. It summarizes the paradigm shifts encountered during the implementation of the project. It also outlines the impact of HPE name change that resulted in the changes in philosophical standpoint and pedagogical approach adopted by teachers.

The author provides information why a Physical Education (PE) specialist offers more advantages than a generalist and an outside provider in teaching PE to children in primary school. She relates the different approaches needed in teaching PE to Year 2 children versus teaching PE to teenagers based on her experience. The value of the "new" PE as means to promote well-being through physical activity and knowledge beyond mere movement is mentioned.

This paper reports on research undertaken by Petrie, Jones, and McKim (2007) during 2006, as part of a Ministry of Education funded evaluation of the impacts of professional learning on curricular and co-curricular physical activity. While the evaluative research explored physical activity in the broadest sense, this paper concentrates specifically on the aspect of the research that focussed on physical education [PE] as a curriculum subject. The paper provides a snapshot of how PE is understood and practised by generalist teachers in ten primary schools. It then identifies some of the factors that contribute to interpretations and delivery of PE, and issues that need to be addressed if PE is to move beyond the past and towards an alternative future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the concept of social connectedness and its relevance for teachers of physical education. The relevance of social connectedness is demonstrated, first, through its incorporation in a variety of New Zealand's policies and documents particularly where young people are the focus, and second, through research in education that demonstrates the importance of social connectedness for healthy development and school functioning. Finally, the implications for schools and physical education are explored and teachers are challenged to consider how their practices allow opportunities for connecting through physical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how social hierarchies, as one aspect of a hidden curriculum associated with physical education, contribute to gender construction within co-educational secondary schools in the New Zealand context. It stems from a broader study, investigating how teacher beliefs, programmes and practices contribute to gender construction within co-educational secondary schools in the Canterbury region. In this paper I explore how physical education supports the replication and legitimisation of socially desirable forms of masculinity and femininity. It is in essence a critique of the ways in which school physical education and the hierarchies that exist within it draw on and reinforce dominant discourses of gender and the effects this has on both males and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with primary physical teacher Joel Devcich of New Zealand is presented. When asked about the importance of physical activities for primary aged children, she reflects on the physical fitness which can be achieved by physical activities. Devcich discusses the ways to encourage students regarding their participation in physical education activities. She informs about the importance of developing thinking, people and movement (TPM) skills.

The author expresses her thoughts on a holistic socio-critical curriculum in the health and physical education (HPE) community. Topics covered include the curriculum's aim to encourage people to support students to think critically, the call of groups outside the HPE community on what should matter for HPE professionals and students, and the challenge of work collaboration within the whole HPE community.

In this article, the author discusses the education setting of universities and colleges in New Zealand in providing health and physical education (HPE) and emphasizing on young people to provide health education. Topics discussed include assessment of sport, physical health, numeracy and literacy, forming curriculum to for enhancing the critical thinking ability of students, and role of Physical Education New Zealand (PENZ) to educate the teachers for providing HPE.